A Fresh Start
by Flintflames
Summary: Percy Jackson. a 12 year old boy raised in New York City, has just moved in with his new step-father Paul and his mother in a town called Pederson, New York. Annabeth Chase, a 12 year old girl, is what many parents would consider the perfect child. Too bad her father barely knows she exists. Together, they might just be able to survive their last years of school.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Meeting

Percy's POV August 15th

I had finally finished unpacking all my clothes from our move when I heard a knock on my door. "Come in," I said as I tried to now work on unpacking my posters.

My mother, Sally Jackson, opened the door and greeted me with a smile. She was a middle aged woman around her thirties. She had long, dark brown hair and blue eyes that sparkled everytime she smiled. Even though we weren't on the best terms right now, I couldn't help to return her smile.

"Are you almost ready to go honey? We told them we would get there around 5."

I cringed, " Are you sure I have to come? I feel like this is more of a you and Paul thing."

She rolled her eyes at me and I could tell she was getting upset, "No Percy for the last time you have to come meet our new neighbors. It'll be good for you to meet some new people. Like I told you, they have a daughter that's your age."

"I know mom and like I told you before, I'm not the best at making first impressions," I reminded her. "It's going to be pretty awkward for us to try and just 'make friends'." I said making air quotations so she got the message.

"I'm not saying you guys have to be friends," she told me. "But I do expect you to be nice and polite. Not only to her, but to her entire family. I know you're capable of doing that.

"I guess," I grumbled.

"Good," she smiled at me again. "We're going to leave in about 5 minutes, make sure you throw on something nice and come downstairs."

As she left the room I silently cursed myself. This was probably going to be one of the most awkward things I've ever done. When we moved out to Paterson, New York with my new stepdad Paul Blofis I never expected it to be this demanding. My mother and I went from living in a tiny apartment in New York City to now living in a nice suburban community in a city outside New York called Paterson. It was a cultural shift for sure, and I had only been living here for a few days.

Following my mom's request, I went into my newly assembled walk-in closet and tried to pick out something decent to wear. I settled for a pair of cargo shorts and my Carmelo Anthony New York Knicks t-shirt. Not dressed up per say, but nice enough so my mom won't pick out my outfit for me.

Next I went to the bathroom and tried to tame my long-black hair. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn't see any obvious errors with my appearance. Silently congratulating myself on not looking like a kid they scooped off of the street, I headed downstairs into the kitchen where my mom and Paul were waiting.

"There he is!" Paul greeted me with a smile. Paul was a middle aged guy a little bit older than my mom. His hair was salt and pepper colored and his eyes were a dark brown. He was a history teacher at NYU and overall a pretty cool guy. He knew his boundaries with me and never really tried to replace my dad. He sort of fit the role of my cool uncle that gave me fatherly advice from time to time. However, he and I were both well aware this whole evening was going to push me out of my comfort zone.

"Hey Paul," I said, giving him a small smile.

He seemed to sense my anxiety growing " Hey Percy it'll be ok, I promise you. The Chase's are a great family and I'm sure their going to love you and your mom." He patted me on the back. "If your starting to feel out of place at any time, just let me know and we'll wrap the whole thing up."

At this comment my mom gave me a death glare. She knew how important this evening was to Paul. This would be the first time he'd be introducing us as a family to one of his friends. She did not want me to call the whole thing off because I was feeling "uncomfortable".

My mom was normally the nicest person in the world, but you did not want to be on her bad side for a number of reasons.

"I'll be ok," I assured Paul.

"Good," He said. "Because your going to have a great time. Ready to head over guys?"

We followed Paul out the door and over to our neighbors house.

As we walked across the street, my stomach was in knots. I normally don't get nervous meeting new people, but these were not the type of people I was used to meeting. Just by looking at their house, I could tell they were the perfect, white-picket fence type of family. They had a Toyota Sienna in the driveway and those stickers family's put on their cars to show how many kids they have. It looked to me like they had 3 kids, but to tell you the truth I was never too good at reading those things.

They also had a bunch of bikes laying in the driveway, coming back from what looked to be like some sort of family bike ride. That was another weird change for me coming from the city. If you didn't have your bike chained up in the from of your house, that things stolen within minutes. It just seemed stupid to me why people would leave them out in plain sight, but it looked like every family on this block did the same thing.

We finally approached the door and Paul knocked on their door. Greeting us was a middle-aged asian woman with her hair in a bun. "Hello Paul! Come in come in. This must be your beautiful new wife." She gave my mom a hug and then shook my hand." You must be Percy! I've heard so much about you." I greeted her politely and took a step into their house. It was pretty similar to ours, 3 stories tall with a kitchen and a living room on the first level, and a balcony overlooking them in front of the door where the bedrooms were located.

She turned and yelled up to the balcony, "Fredrick! Paul's here with his guests, bring Annabeth and the boys down with you."

Emerging from the balcony was a tall man with sandy-blonde hair and blue eyes. His clothes were wrinkled and his glasses were crooked like he had just woken up from a 3 hour nap."Professor Blofis! nice to see you arrived on time this time!" The man said cracking a smile and pulling Paul into a hug. He nodded towards me and my mother. "I guess these are the new residents, if you ever need a place to stay, let me know. Paul's quite the snorer!"

"Frederick Chase!" The asian woman said, who I'm assuming to be Mrs. Chase.

The adults talked on for a while I just kind of stood there listening until a blonde haired girl emerged from the balcony followed by two little boys who couldn't have been more than 5.

The girl was not what I was expecting at all. Imagine the stereotypical blonde girl from California. This girl was tan and had long blonde hair in loose curls falling all the way down to the middle of her back. But instead of looking like a barbie doll, this girl emitted some kind of a rough aura. She wasn't wearing any makeup as far as I could tell. She was also wearing a pair of jeans and a tight white tee shirt, an outfit I could see myself wearing.

As her and her brothers made their way down to great us, Mrs. Chase introduced us. "This is my daughter Annabeth and her two brothers, Bobby and Matthew. Guys, This is Paul's new family, his wife Sally and new son Percy." I gave them an awkward wave and they returned the favor.

I took this opportunity to get a better look at the girl. She was about an inch taller than me, with long tan legs and a pretty face. Her eyes were bright grey color, like when the sun shines through a group of clouds during a thunderstorm.

Mrs. Chase then lead us into the living room area. It was a nice area, with a big flatscreen TV and a couple of couches. They had the Knicks game blaring in the background, and I figured that was probably a good place to divert my focus to.

I sort of zoned out of the conversation the adults were having until Mrs. Chase asked me a question.

"I'm sorry, what did you ask?" I said embarrassed. Because of my ADHD, I lost focus pretty fast, so I had no idea what she had just asked me.

"I asked you what you do for fun, dear." She said smiling. I noticed there was sort of a cold edge behind her tone. Like if I was one of her kids and I missed a question she'd have me scrubbing dishes for the rest of the night.

"Um….." I scratched my head. A lot of the things I did back in the city were probably frowned upon in this town, so I had to be careful with what I said.

"I swim" I offered. "I play basketball, um, and I bike sometimes-"

"Do you ever read? We are quite the reading family!" she said quite enthusiastically.

I shifted my feet awkwardly, "Um I read sometimes when I'm bored, but I don't really enjoy it." That was a total lie. To be honest with you I could probably count the amount of books I've read in my life on one hand. I've always had a hard time reading because of my dyslexia

Mrs. Chase intertwined her fingers like she was satisfied with that answer. "I'll tell you what, we have about an hour until we're ready for dinner, how about I have Annabeth show you her room, she has quite the collection of books up there!"

The girl, Annabeth, seemed about as thrilled with that as I was, but before I could answer my mom jumped in and said she thought that was a great idea. I figured they were pretty anxious to get rid of us.

The adults went back to talking while Annabeth's brothers went outside. Annabeth gestured me to follow her up the stairs. This is when I really started to get nervous. How was I supposed to kill an hour with this girl?

As I approached the top of the stairs, Annabeth turned the corner and opened the door to her room. As I peered inside, I was pretty surprised at how plain looking it was.

The room was a grey color similar to her eyes, while her sheets were just a cream color. There was basically no pictures in the whole room and the walls were completely empty besides one New York Yankees pennant.

"So your a Yankees fan?" I asked trying to draw some conversation out of her.

She smiled softly, "Huge Yankees fan. We used to have season tickets a few years ago, but my Dad doesnt really like baseball anymore so we got rid of them."

"That's a shame, I've never even been to a game." I admitted.

She seemed surprised at that comment. "Who in New York has never been to a Yankees game, plus didn't your mom say before that you guys are from Manhattan?"

I shrugged, "I mean I'm a big fan and all, but my mom normally works during the day. It's a little hard to take the subway by yourself when your a 12 year old kid."

She bit the corner of her lip,"I guess that's fair," She gestured towards the bookshelf in the corner of her room.

I whistled silently to myself. Their had to be about 100 books on that shelf. It would've taken me a lifetime to try and read half of those.

She let out a laugh when she saw my expression, "I'm guessing you're not really a big reader?"

"Hell no," I laughed. "I hate reading with a passion, why read when you can just watch the movies"

Her smile faltered when I said that, "I like reading, but my stepmom needs to understand that at age 11-12 kids don't really read for fun anymore. She only lets us watch an hour of TV a day, that's why she got all ticked when you zoned out before."

I cringed, "Geez, that's a little harsh, what does she thinks gonna happen to you guys, you guys gonna turn into criminals."

She shrugged "Beats me, normally when she's out I can cheat the time though because my Dad could care less, he's always working on a paper or something."

She seemed sad at the mention of her dad. It occured to me that her family seemed to kind of ignore her. Ever since we showed up they hadn't talked about her at all, while my mom and Paul talked about me every chance they had.

I decided I kind of liked Annabeth. She seemed pretty chill and didn't act as if she was way too cool to even be talking to me, which she probably was. I figured I better change the subject though before things got too personal and I had to talk about my messed up family.

"So, what do you do for fun then if you don't really watch movies or TV?"

"Besides reading?" she asked.

"Yeah, like do you and your friends hang out anywhere?"

She bit the inside of her lip, " I don't really have many close friends, I went to a private school for most of my life and I was never very close to any of them."

"Ok then.." I said sensing some awkward tension. To be honest I had never had many close friends either, I had switched around schools so much I never really had the chance to make any. "Do you play any sports?"

"Volleyball." She answered. "But that's only a few months in the fall."

"Ok, well what on earth do you do here then." I chuckled. "No human can possibly just sit in their room and read all day."

She hesitated before answering me. "Well I do have other hobbies, but I can't really tell you."

"Why not?' I asked. "What, do you play with dolls or something?"

"No I do not play with dolls!" She looked about ready to slap me. "You know what, I'll show you." She aggressively stomped out of her room as I quickly followed behind her. She lead me down the stairs and towards another set of stairs that led down to the basement. \

As she went down the stairs, I caught a glimpse of our parents. Paul and Fredrick Chase seemed to be chatting it up like 2 old pals, while Mrs. Chase and my mom were drinking could've been wine. It looked to me like I wasn't getting out of here for a while.

I followed Annabeth down the second set of stairs to her basement. When we got down there she flicked on the lights to reveal her basement.

It wasn't anything special, most of it being unfinished. It had an old, boxed tv against the far wall and a ping pong table along the other side.

Just as I decided Annabeth must have spent all her time playing ping pong, she led me towards another door and revealed a storage room. In the middle of the storage room laid a massive table with a large white bed sheet covering it.

As we approached she hesitated for a second before lifting the white sheet up and tossing it to the side.

I struggled to breathe when I saw her creation laid out in front of me. Standing before me was the most massive homemade lego city I had ever seen.

Now, everyone plays with legos when their kids. I had my fair share of Lego Star Wars collectables when I was in elementary school, but what Annabeth had was like nothing I had ever seen before. The buildings displayed in her city were in much better detail than any of the sets I've ever built. Not to mention I didn't recognize a single one of the sets she built.

"Holy Shit!" I yelled. "That is massive!"

She looked around nervously, "Shhhh, they might hear you up their you know, watch the language."

"This situation calls for me to swear," I told her.

She shifted her feet uncomfortably," I know it's kind of weird, but I don't really have anything-"

"Weird?" I laughed to myself. "This isn't weird, this is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen!

"Really?" she looked surprised. "I don't want people to think I'm that weird girl that still plays with legos."

"I mean I wouldn't really call this playing per say. Where the heck did you get these sets from, I've never seen any of these in the store."

"I built them from scratch." she pointed towards the the 7 or 8 large bins full of lego's, each separated by color.

"Ok, you are officially forgiven for not watching TV, this is freaking amazing! What is this supposed to be a replica of?

She picked up a one of her lego people she had walking in the city started playing with it, "It's supposed to be my ideal city I'd like to live in. Low buildings with not a lot of cars and a ton of monuments dedicated to different people."

I couldn't even fathom how one girl could possibly design all of this herself. All of the streets were the same dimensions and their had to be dozens of buildings throughout the whole thing, each designed differently. She still had more room to build too.

"I haven't even finished building a lot of my ideas yet, I really want to build a model of the Pantheon in Greece, but my Dad has to order more 3x2 white blocks so I can start building-"

I just smiled at her. Here I thought I was going to have to sit at some boring family dinner with some snotty rich girl. Little did I know how cool Annabeth was going to be. I started to believe we could actually become good friends.

"Kid's, dinner's ready!" Mr. Chase yelled from upstairs.

She gestured to the stairs,"Well, I guess we'll have to continue this after dinner."

I smiled as I opened the door back up for her "After you m'lady"

She rolled her eyes but didn't protest, as she made her way up the stairs.

It was about 10:00 P.M when we had finally left the Chase's house. I was just starting to tell Paul and my mom about Annabeth's Lego city. "She has this massive city with all these different buildings she designed from scratch. She let me help her build a few more tonight, she even said I could help her design-"

Paul chuckled,"Looks like you kids had fun, I told you they were a nice family."

"Yeah well I got a little nervous when Mrs. Chase started talking about reading, but Annabeht's pretty chill I guess." I admitted

My mom pursed her lips, " You know Annabeth has dyslexia too right? Fredrick was telling me and Paul about it tonight."

I narrowed my eyes, "No way that girl has dyslexia, she told me tonight she's read over 200 books. Plus you should see all the blueprints she designs for these buildings, they look like their written in another language."

"It's true." My mom said. "Apparently they've had her see specialists since she was young, she just grinds through it and eventually it becomes easier for her."

"Huh, that's interesting i guess.

"Doctors have given her tips since she was a girl on how to make it easier, maybe she can help you out when you guys go to school in a month," My mom said

"We're going to the same school?' I asked. My mom nodded. I was silently pretty pleased with myself for making at least one friend before school starts, maybe this year would be better for me if I had someone to keep me in check.

"You should go to bed Percy, it's getting late." I nodded and said goodnight to them as I went up to my room.

As I lay in bed that night, I couldn't help but smile at myself. Maybe moving to Paterson wouldn't be that bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N **Hello Readers, the time has finally come for chapter 2 of my new story. I would just like to apologize as it took me 4 weeks to finish this chapter. I am still in school and work a part time job on the weekdays, so it's hard for me to find time to write. But you now should expect updates every week on either Saturday or Sunday. I would also like to thank everyone who took the time to read the first chapter. I have received some positive feedback from multiple people, and that only motivates me to write more. So with that being said, here's chapter 2!**

Chapter 2: First Day

Annabeth's POV, September

Do you ever get that sinking feeling in your stomach when the thing you've been avoiding for a long time, finally dangles itself right in front of you? That's how I felt about school starting up tomorrow.

It's not like I wasn't a fan of school. I loved everything about it the last 8 years I was there. From solving complex math equations to finger painting, I excelled at almost every subject. Even with my dyslexia, I was able to read at a near highschool reading level. The problem was that I would be attending a new school for the first time in my life.

The previous 8 years of my life, I had attended Pederson Prep Academy for the academically gifted. Or what I liked to call it, Pederson Prep Academy for the spoiled and rotten. Basically everyone there was either mentally slow, a complete genius, or just spoiled. It was about a 20-20-60 split, which doesn't really surprise me looking back at it.

My parents originally sent me their because of my dyslexia, but it turns out I actually ended up being one of the smartest kids there. But just because I was smart didn't really give me a break from all the teasing the "slow" kids got. It took me about 6 years to figure out that most kids didn't care about how smart you are, if you had a learning disability, you were a target.

Now I know what your thinking, _Annabeth! If all you did was get picked on at your old school, why are you so upset about leaving?_

The thing is, even if my social life at my old school wasn't ideal, I was at least comfortable there. I felt like I fit in to some degree, and I did have a few friends here and there.

Since Pederson Prep only went from grades 1-5, my parents had almost no choice but to send me to East Pederson middle school. To say there was going to be a culture shift was an understatement. I was used to wearing my full school uniform that consisted of a plaid shirt and a vest. Who knows what these kids will be wearing at my new school, if there wearing anything at all.

Ok maybe I'm being a bit dramatic about going to a new school, but before I met Percy I was even more nervous.

Percy Jackson was an interesting kid to say the least. He and his mother had moved in with our neighbor Paul last month, and since then we've hung out a few times.

Ok, I say hang out but really our parents just hang out and me and Percy are forced to find stuff to do until the parents decide to call it a night. If were at my house he helps me build my Lego City model ive had since I was 6, and whenever we go to his house we shoot hoops in his driveway.

Now I don't know much about basketball, but it seemed to me like Percy knew what he was doing. He was scrappy and quick, similar to how a point guard would play in the NBA. His shot wasn't bad either. Whenever we played horse it would be a miracle if he ever had a letter.

"How did you get so good at this,'' I asked him one time after he routed me pretty good.

He shrugged, "We had basketball courts near my apartment in Manhattan, so I used to play a ton. "Plus when your smaller, you have to practice way harder if you want to be good."

Percy was about average height for a guy our age, but I imagined he had to play against older kids back in the city. I was a couple inches taller than him, though i was considered abnormally tall for a girl my age. It was quite annoying actually.

Anyway, Percy ended up being pretty cool and we actually had a lot in common despite being from totally different areas. That gave me hope that I could actually fit in at this new school.

When I expressed my concerns to Percy one time, he just laughed at me.

"Trust me Annabeth," he said with a slight grin on his face. "All schools are pretty much the same. You have your rich kids, your smart kids, the jocks, the goths, the geeks. I've been to enough of them to know that.

"How many schools could you actually attended to make an accurate judgment?" I questioned him.

"Well, this'll be school number 6 this year," he said looking me dead in the eye. "3 private 3 public."

My jaw dropped. "_Six! _What on earth did you do to switch schools that many times!

He shrugged, that was normally his go to move whenever he felt uncomfortable, "I murdered a few kids, stole some money, sold some drugs, normal stuff ya know?"

He was smiling but I couldn't be 100% sure he was kidding, I never brought it up again.

However, by the end of the summer I could confidently say we were friends. We even went on a bike ride today on the last day of summer as a final send off.

After reflecting on the summer in my journal, I closed it and stared up at the plastic stars hanging above my bed that my mother gave me so many years ago.

"_Shoot for the stars Annabeth!" _She had told me. _You have potential, don't let it go to waste." _

I crawled into bed and closed my eyes, drifting off into sleep before I could distract myself anymore.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring and my stepmother screaming my name, just the way every kid loves to wake up.

I forced myself to crawl out of bed and head downstairs for breakfast. My stepmother, Kristen, was waiting for me along with my twin-brothers, Bobby and Matthew.

"Hi Annabeth." Matthew said with a mouth full of cheerios.

"Are you ready for school," Bobby said spitting milk everywhere.

I smiled at them. They were so sweet and naive, hopefully they never find out the problems they caused my family.

I greeted them and sat down. Kristen came through about a minute later and handed me a bagel with some cream cheese on it.

"Annabeth, you better hurry up, you can't miss the bus,"

That was another thing I had been dreading, the bus. Previously, Kristen had driven me to school since there wasn't a bus system for my old school. But with my new school there would be a bus stop at the end of the street that me and Percy would be taking to school.

"Yes ma'am," I responded.

She seemed pretty pleased with the answer. I learned that if you just did what she asked she normally left you alone. Unfortunately, she wasn't very easy to say yes to.

After I finished eating, I went upstairs, took a quick shower, and started to get ready. For my clothes today I decided to pick out a simple lulu lemon t-shirt with some new jeans I got over the summer.

Next I started to apply some makeup, which according to Kristen, "Every girl would be wearing". After I finished, I looked at myself in the mirror and honestly couldn't tell the difference, but hey if it makes her happy, it makes my life easier.

As I went downstairs to go grab my backpack, I took a look at my Dad's office. He wasn't in there, which was a shocker. Normally he spent every living second in there working on his latest World War ll model. Unfortunately, him not being in his office just meant that he wasn't home.

I sighed, grabbed my backpack off the hook of the front door, said goodbye to Kristen and the boys, and started off to the bus stop.

Percy was already waiting for me when I got there. He was dressed in his usual sweatpants and a hoodie, along with his favorite Yankees hat, most likely to cover up his hair that was most likely a mess.

"What's up blondie?" He called out. "Ready for your first day of school?"

"Shut Up," I retaliated. "I've been a nervous wreck all morning."

I did a little twirl in front of him, letting him see my outfit. "How do I look?"

He studied me up and down. "Pretty… good I guess. I don't really know what girls wear to be honest. Pretty sure you'll be fine."

He seemed uncharacteristically flustered, but before I could question him on it, the yellow school bus turned the corner and made its way down the street. It stopped right in front of us and opened its doors to let us in.

As me and Percy climbed aboard, I turned to the bus driver, "Thank you," I uttered.

He nodded his head at me and shut the doors, as me and Percy found seats near the back of the bus. When we sat down he glared at me. "You do know that you don't have to thank the bus driver right? Guys probably a creep."

I shrugged, "I was just being nice, guy probably doesn't get treated that well."

He rolled his eyes at me and stared down at his lap, a clear indication he didn't feel like socializing. That was the thing with Percy, sometimes you couldn't get him to shut up. But other times you basically have to pull his teeth out to get him to talk.

I started to have a look around the bus, and immediately regretted it. As soon as she stuck her head above the seat, she got nailed with a piece of paper.

"Ow?" she said as she looked up to see who threw it. In front of her with what looked like a homemade slingshot, was a short latino boy who seemed pretty shocked.

"My bad _mamacita_." the boy said. "Wouldn't want to hurt that pretty face of yours before we get to school."

My face reddened, "Save it."

He smiled at me, "Names Leo by the way, don't suppose you got a thing for short mexicans like myself?"

"No I don't actually," I said. I threw the wad of paper back at him and returned to my seat. When I looked back over at Percy, he was snickering at me.

"What's so funny," I asked.

"Get used to it," was all he said.

To say I was nervous going into school would be the understatement of the year. My body could barely function as Percy and I made our way through the middle school to get to our homeroom. The halls were crowded, and I was barely able to maneuver my way through them without losing Percy, Who confidently and swiftly moved through the sea of people like he was Moses himself.

A few trips and a dozen face smacks later, me and Percy arrived at our homeroom. There, we decided to head our separate ways as he took a seat in the back, and I took one towards the front next to a pretty brunette girl. She was wearing a simple tank top with jeans and some light makeup. As she turned to look at me, I couldn't help but to notice how pretty her eyes were. They were almost like a kaleidoscope, with about a dozen different colors all encapsulating her iris.

She smiled at me, "Ready for the first day?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," I said. "My name is Annabeth by the way".

"Piper," she said. "I just moved here from California, so this is all a little new to me." She gestured to the room of kids and I understood what she meant. I had never been to California, but I could imagine New York would be a little different.

"I know what you mean," I said. "New Yorkers are kind of weird."

"And _hot_," she said laughing. "Look at that kid over there."

I looked to where she was pointing, which was in the front on the opposite side of them. Sitting there was a blonde kid with blue eyes. He had sort of a military style haircut, being short-cropped on the sides of his head. He was wearing a collared shirt that was buttoned up to the very top, and had thick, square glasses on.

"I don't know." I chuckled. "He seems nice I guess."

"Nice? If that kid proposed to me I would yes with zero hesitation."

"Something tells me that that isn't going to happen."

"A girl can dream," she sighed. "What about you, see anyone you like?"

My eyes found Percy in the back of the room talking to that Leo kid from our bus. He seemed to be trying to show Leo how to balance a pencil on his nose, but he was failing miserably.

"Nope," I said. "Not yet"

The first bell rang and everyone had to go to their classes. As I walked from class to class, I was thrilled I hadn't gotten homework so far. At my old school, first day homework was normally a real thing. But my backpack felt light so far.

Piper and I were now eating lunch, sitting alone in the large cafeteria. Piper was in a lot of my classes, so we had made friends pretty quickly. She seemed pretty down to earth compared to a lot of the other girls she had class with. We weren't exactly popular, but it seemed like a good start to have at least one friend.

I was just telling Piper about my lego city model when I caught her staring across the cafeteria.

I followed her eyes, and she was staring at that same blonde kid she had been in the homeroom. Jason was his name, as she had learned earlier. He was sitting with Percy and Leo at a table across the cafeteria.

"You should talk to him," I suggested.

She looked mortified,"Talk to him about what? I don't even know what to say. 'Hey Jason, I think you're really cute, want to come sit with me?' I think that would be pretty weird considering it's the first day."

"You're probably right," I said. "I know literally nothing about boys, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt."

"You seem to get along with that Percy kid fine," she pointed out.

"Well yeah, he's my neighbor, I'm like the only person he knows here, he's basically forced to talk to me."

"Yeah," she smirked. "He is kind of cute, a little on the short side though."

When she said that, my stomach fluttered. I suppose Percy was kind of attractive, but it's not like she thought of him like that. He was her friend, nothing more.

Before I could respond, I heard someone clear their throat in front of me. When I looked up, I saw Percy, Leo and Jason in front of me.

"Sorry to bother you guys," Jason said. "But we were forced to relocate from our previous table."

"Forced," Percy corrected. "We were kicked out of our table by those asshole 7th graders. I would have kicked their ass but I'm on a short leash here apparently."

"Dude, they're like twice your size, they would have kicked the shit out of you." Leo said.

"Whatever. Anyway, Annabeth can we sit with you? We know literally no one else here.

"Sure," I said without hesitation. I looked over at Piper and had to suppress a laugh. She looked like she was about ready to faint.

They sat down, and Percy nudged Leo in the shoulder.

"By the way Annabeth, I'm sorry if I offended you earlier." Leo said. "I'm a little weird around people sometimes, I guess that's just the ADHD."

"I don't think it's ADHD," Percy chuckled. "I think you're just a weirdo."

Everyone laughed at that, I accepted his apology. I quickly introduced them to Piper, who seemed to have collected herself a little better. Overall, Jason and Leo seemed like pretty cool people. Jason was a little quiet, but Leo talked enough for the both of them.

After lunch, I breezed through the rest of my classes. Before I knew it, I was saying goodbye to Percy and flopping down in my bed.

I smiled to myself, not even knowing I had just made the best friends I would ever have.

**And that's chapter 2 of this story! I apologize that these first few chapters have been pretty short, But I promise the next few are going to be longer. I just wanted to use these first two chapters to introduce Percy, Annabeth, and the rest of the gang. More will actually be happening in these following chapters. By the way, expect a lot of time jumps from now on. The early stages of middle school are going to be going by quicker than the highschool aspect.**


End file.
